If the waking entity is not the self, then what is it that witnesses these three states without the waking entity?***

Deeper inquiry reveals the fact that, the self is not the waking entity(ego or you). If the waking entity is not the self,  then what is it that witnesses these three states without the waking entity (you) ?

The dream is witnessed as a whole without the physical apparatus.  Same way the waking experience also is witnessed by the same witness, which witnessed the dream as a whole.

The dream body and the dream world were within the dream. Same way the waking body and the waking world are within the waking experience. The formless witness, which is aware of the three states, is within the three states, but it is without the three states.

 It is within the three states, as their formless substance. It is without the  three states as their formless witness.  The witness is apart from the three states, because it is formless, therefore it is not an entity or identity within the waking and dream. 

The formless witness has to be grasped mentally to realize the fact that, the formless witness alone is real and eternal, and all the three states, which come and go, are mere mirage created out of the formless witness, which is in the form of  the consciousness.

Deeper analysis is very much necessary to understand and assimilate the Self-knowledge or Bramha Gnana or  Atma Gnana.  

Thus, what is the use of inquiring WHO AM I ? when 'I' is not the Self?.***

The self is not the ‘I’.  ‘I’ is present in the form of mind. The origin of mind is soul. The mind is present in the form of the universe. The soul is present in the form of consciousness.  The root of the universe is consciousness.  Thus saying ‘I Am God’ keeps one in duality. The duality is not reality. The duality is product of ignorance. The body, ego and the world are of the ignorance. When wisdom dawns the ignorance disappears. When ignorance disappears the duality will never be a reality even though there is duality it is mere an illusion created out of single stuff. That single stuff is soul, which is present in the form of consciousness.  The soul is the innermost self. The innermost self is God.  It is not “I AM GOD, but it’s correct to say ‘the SELF IS GOD because self is not ‘I’ or ’I AM”.  

People say Aham Brahmasmi -- I am God, I am Brahman. But when Brahman is, how can "I" remain? Only Brahman remains, not I.   : ~ Santthosh Kumaar

 If the self is formless   then who is that who thinks?  and to who is the thinker ? 

One has to become aware of the fact that:~

The thinker and his thoughts are part of the world which is an illusion and the self is neither thinker nor the thought but self is that which is aware of the thinker, the thought and the world together without the physical apparatus.  

The people who are stuck with thinker and thought will never be able to cross the threshold of duality. 

When the self is neither the ego nor the body how can one experience anything which is exist prior to the experience of form, time and space.   How can one experience the non-dualistic  bliss as a person within the illusion? If the waking entity experiences the so-called bliss within waking experience then it is the false entity is experiencing the false experience within the falsehood because when wisdom dawns the unreal nature of the waking experience is exposed the same way as the unreal nature of the dream was exposed when waking took place.     

Man perceives the world within the waking or dream. The dream becomes unreal   when waking takes place. Similarly, the waking becomes unreal when the waking entity becomes aware that the self is neither the waking entity nor the dream entity but self is the formless witness of the three states, which comes and goes in succession.    Thus, the witness (consciousness or soul) and witnessed (mind or universe or waking) are one in essence where is the scope for anything to exist other than consciousness.    A Gnani is one who sees the three states in equanimity because he is fully aware of the fact that all the three states are mere mirage created out of formless consciousness, which is the innermost self.   He sees everything as consciousness even though he is in the midst of diversity.   

Thus,  what is the use of inquiring WHO AM I ? when 'I' is not the Self?. 

The impossibility of yoga arrives at a successful end to its practices.+*****

 

Only in religion and the yogic path, one has to follow and practice. Everyone thinks he has to follow some guru or godmen.  But all these methods are full of frustrations and give no real satisfaction. Reality has no method. The illusion has many methods, many problems, and many concepts. To overcome illusion or concepts, one should know the source of the mind and from where does this mind arise? “When the mind is present the universe is there. The absence of the mind is the absence of the universe.  Absent of the universe is absent of duality. Absent of duality is absent of thoughts.   Until one becomes aware of what is the mind and what is the substance of the mind it is impossible to assimilate the nondualistic or Advaitic truth.

Panchadesi: ~The impossibility of yoga arrives at a successful end to its practices. (P.509 v, 109)

All yogic miracles still start from the standpoint of the body and thus have nothing to do with Gnana.

Yoga is practiced on the base of the physical body. When the yogi sits down to meditate, he is thinking first of his posture, i.e. his body; next, he tries to get rid of his thoughts," i.e. he is already thinking of those thoughts. Thus, his mind is filled with body and the thoughts (ego), never of the formless witness.

 Ashtavakra says:~ “This is your bondage, that you practice Samadhi.

When one puts aside the imagination and has the thinker-- what does he get with thinking—he can get only a thought. Meditation is only an effort of the ego within the illusion; it is imagination based on the false self; the consciousness remaining the same with or without ideas.

When formless witness witnesses the waking experience and its attention is fixed to the waking experience, which is an object to it, then it is in ignorance of its formless nondual true nature and it is in forgetfulness of its own formless nondual true nature. The same thing applies to the dream. But when the formless witness is free from waking and dream it is in its formless nondual true nature, which identified as deep sleep in the waking experience, which is the state of ignorance.   Until waking entity traces the formless witness mentally and realizes it itself is not the self but the formless witness, which is in the form of consciousness is the true self, the wisdom will not dawn.   

When one is absorbed in thinking of anything, he forgets the subject, which consciousness the innermost self, that which witnesses all the coming and going of the three states in succession.

One may think for a hundred hours continuously, but it is all thoughts, hence not consciousness. But when one becomes aware the thinker and the thoughts are one, in essence, one does get consciousness, the knower, the formless witness of the three states. the soul or the consciousness the innermost self is eternal.

One has to get rid of his doubts, but that did not mean, simply go and believe everything he is told. The doubt is to be got rid of "by the sword of wisdom.  There is a controversy as to the meaning of Maya.

One Advaitic School says it is a Shakti of Brahman whereby both illusion and creation are brought about. But doubt arises-

v  How does one know that it is the truth?

v  If one base it on the sayings of ancient sages, even granting that they honestly believed in their experiences, there is still the query how do they know that these experiences were the truth?

For even mentally challenged believe in what they see and feel and yet their experiences are often quite untrue.

v  What is it that ascertains the truth of these experiences within us?

If one says it is a mystical experience, then everyone’s experience differs from others.  Such disagreement does not settle the matter.

Objective knowledge arises from experience of an object by a subject; that all knowledge of objects will only lead to more thinking but never give one ultimate truth or Brahman. Intellectuals think by thinking more and get more and still more objective experience and then when we have enough we may get a reality.

The truth can never change. The nature of truth is, it can never be changed under any circumstances. It may be misrepresented. It must apply to the whole of existence, to the whole of the universe. It is in the object (three states) alone that one has all changes, as deeper analysis points out.

 The subject (formless witness) remains unchanged. The subject (formless witness), as such remains immortal. It can never die for it never changes. The body and the world are an object and disappear, but the subject or the knower of the body and the universe can never disappear. The seeker has to take this principle as his guiding thread and non-dual truth becomes easy to grasp. The formless witness can never be subject to the changes of the object; it is unchanged. The mistake usually made is that the subject becomes the object, or that object is the subject.

If one wants to have an absence of contradictions, the absence of duality, there must be one entity, one being. If one has experience which is an object (mind), there is a contradiction between subject and object, for "mind” is an object.

The duality is a reality from the standpoint of the false self (ego or body as Self).  The duality is a mere mirage on the base of the true self, which is formless consciousness. This understanding comes only to the serious seeker, who has a real urge to know the ultimate truth, which is beyond all the teachings and teachers. There is neither teaching, nor teacher, nor a student in the realm of truth.  

Different paths will not converge to the same Ultimate Reality because they are based on the false self. They are not different stages on the same path. People fight about the differences and the greatness of their chosen paths but only through wisdom one can realize the Ultimate Reality.

One has to have a perfect understanding and march ahead, surely and steadily, towards that Ultimate Reality, which is consciousness or Brahman or Christ or Buddha. One becomes limited to the concepts, names, and forms within the waking or the dream. Waking or dream originates from the soul.

The soul is the true self.  The soul is in the form of consciousness. Realizing the consciousness as the true self is truth realization.  The consciousness is formless, limitless, permanent and unchanging, and by its nature non-dual and universal. The consciousness is the formless knower of the mirage (universe) which comes and goes.

Realize Brahman or ultimate truth here and now, in this very life, not in the next life and in the next world by realizing the fact that,  this life itself is an illusion because this world itself is an illusion.:~Santthosh Kumaar